Event organizers looking forward to Second Annual Jazz Festival

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – You may not have known, but at one time Carver Street in Myrtle Beach used to be a hub for music and dancing. A group of people want make sure that still exists.

Between 18th and 21st Avenues North, Carver Street will be closed this weekend so that people from all walks of life can celebrate together through music at the second annual Jazz Festival.

This festival will not be ticketed, so you can wander around the venue as you please. There will also be about 40 to 60 vendors selling everything from food, to jewelry and t-shirts. A beer and wine garden will also be on site.

The festival will feature a combination of national, regional, and local artists.

Here's the lineup of bands:

Friday, Sept. 29

6 p.m. – T-Ray, the Violinist

8 p.m. – Marcus Anderson

10 p.m. – Charlie Suggs

Saturday, Sept. 30

9 a.m. – Aynor Middle Baby Blue Birds

9 a.m. – North Myrtle Beach Middle Jazz Band

10 a.m. – Myrtle Beach High Seahawk Show Choir

10 a.m. – Aynor High Jazz Band

11 a.m. – Carolina Forest High Show Choir

11 a.m. – Socastee High Jazz Band

12 p.m. – James “Bull” Canty

1:30 p.m. – West African Drummers

2:30 p.m. – Painted Man

4 p.m. – Gino Castillo

6 p.m. – Ashley Aluv Doe

8 p.m. – T-Ray, The Violinist

10 p.m. – Chocolate Chip & Company

Sunday, Oct. 1

1 p.m. – Don Colton

4:30 p.m. – Mike Frost Band

6:30 p.m. – Special Blend

8:30 p.m. – Shableek

It's no secret Myrtle Beach is a tourist town, but to some it lacks culture, which is what organizers want to bring back. They say they want to use this event as a springboard to bring life back to this neighborhood.

"Back in the day with Charlie Fitzgerald we definitely want to bring that feeling back with jazz music; we had Marvin Gaye, Ella Fitzgerald - so we definitely want to do the same thing and hopefully come up with some more events as well," event organizer Greg James said.

Organizers want to revitalize the Carver Street area and curb violence, and through this event they hope to do just that.

Last year, more people came out to the first annual Jazz Festival than event organizers ever expected. They also gave a lot of good feedback which made organizers excited to get it started again this year.

So this year, they anticipate at least 2,000 people will attend each day, which is why community members are already making sure their neighborhood looks its best.

WMBF News asked the event organizer if there is something that needed to change from last year to make the second annual festival even better, and this is what he had to say: "We wanted to heighten the security a little bit, I think that was definitely and issue, that's just something we wanted to be better with and I think we did a good job with that. Joey Crosby has really worked with us so that's one thing that we really wanted to focus on this year is security," James said.

The Jazz Festival starts this Friday and continues through Sunday at the former Charlie's Place site here on Carver Street.